Improvement in railroad turn-tables



trating my invention.

UNITI-3D STATI-3s PAT-ENT GFFICE.

J. n. DENNIS, or LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD TURN-TABLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,135, dated January 14, 1862.

To au unam t may concern:

Be it known that l, J. H. DENNIS, of Louisville, in the county of Jelferson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Turn-Tables and I do hereby declare that thefoilowing is afull, clear` and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan of a turn-table illus- Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same at am. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bed or base with the table removed.

Similailetters and numeralsof reference indicate corresponding parts inthe several iigures.

The subject of my invention is a turn-table designed especially for use in street-railroads.

The object of the invention is to enable the driver to readily reverse the position of his car without leaving his position upon the platform or seat.

The nature of the invention consists in certain 'devices whereby the table, while permitted to turn freely in one or the other direction, is automatically arrested at the instant the rails are in position, thus enabling the car to return on the track by, which it approached,

as hereinafter explained.

Toen-able others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A represents the bed or base of the table, encircled by a rim or liange B, having at two opposite points notches b b', which present abrupt shoulders and inclined surfaces in the opposite direction, for purposes hereinafter explained.;-

O is the table proper, secured by an axial screw D and resting upon ball-s E, running in suitable circular grooves in the base or table, or both, so as to prevent undue friction.

F F' represent the track. G is a latch or stop pivoted at gin a radial slot in the edge of the table and projecting beyond the same. The said latch is free to move to a limited extent in a vertical plane, but is held from lateral motion by the slot in which it plays.

The manner of using the invention is as follows: A car approaching upon the track F comes upon the table at the side marked l, and when it is completely upon the table the driver applies the brakes, and moving his horse sidewise draws the table round in the direction indicated by the arrow, the latch G passing` easily up the inclined face of the notch b. At the instant that the end 2 of the track F comes into position to correspond with the track F the latch G, coming against the abrupt shoulder of the notch b2, arrests the rotation of the table, and the brakes being then withdrawn, the car may pass off in the opposite direction upon the track F, upon which it approached without any necessity of the driver leaving his position upon the platform or seat of the car. A second car approaching in like manner turns the table around in the opposite direction. The position of the latch G, or any mark placed upon the table for that purpose, serves as a constant index for the'direction in which the table is to be turned.

. I have thus described what I regard as the preferable form for my invention, inasmuch as it combines in a high degree the qualifications of simplicity, eiiiciency, non-liability to derangement, and convenient accessibility for inspection or repair. It will be apparent, however, that various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from its essential principles or purposes. Thus, for instance, the stop G may be fixed and rigid instead of being pivoted, and the upper edge of the rim B being cut away throughout that portion of its circumference which the'stop G is intended Io traverse, the said stop may be i carried around from one shoulder to the other without rising. Again, a similar rigid and .radially-projecting stop may traverse a slot around a portion of the circumference of the ring some distance below its upper edge, or the stop being shorter, so as to pass around entirely within the rim, the motion of the table may be arrested at the proper points by studs or pins projecting inward from the face of the rim; or the stop may be made to project beneath the rim and employed in connection with projections in any form upon the lower edge of the latter. n

These or any other substantially equivalent modifications of the invention which would accomplish the purpose hereinbefore made known I shold regard as infringements of my claim; or, to express the idea in more generai'terms, the latch or stop may be placed in any suitable portion of either the table or rim or bed or base, so that the rotary motion of the table is checked by it at the point desired. f

I do not restrict myself to any specific de- Scription of turn-table, or any specific description of running-gear for the same, or any specific mode of supporting or adjusting the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Any device, substantially as hereinoefore explained, whereby the table, While permitted to turn freely in one or the other direction, is automatically arrested the instant the rails are in position to enable the ear to return on the track by which itapproached.

J. H. DENNIS. Witnesses:

L. W. BENDR, OCTAVIUs KNIGHT. 

